JAPANESE PECULIAR CUSTOM of Recent Article

Japanese women give men chocolate to show their affection in Valentine's Day!

There is a special Valentine's Day custom in Japan --- women give men chocolate to show their affection.

However, this is a custom that smart chocolate companies spread to boost their sales, and it has been very successful.

Now the chocolate companies in Japan sell more than half of their annual sales during the week before Valentine's Day.

While honmei choco; 本命チョコ (=chocolate for the favorite) is given to someone very special, giri choco; 義理チョコ (=obligation chocolate) is usually given to your male family members, classmates, co-workers and so on from a sense of obligation.

What is SENTOU?

In Japan, there are not only baths in the home but also SENTOU, or communal bathhouses.

SENTOU is a type of Japanese communal bath house where customers pay for entrance.

Users pay fees for entrance(called bandai; 番台).
The owner of SENTO or his family receives the fees at Bandai.
The SENTOU fee in Tokyo is 450yen(about 5.3dollars) in 2011.

"Sen(洗)" of sento means fee, and "Tou(湯)" of sento means hot water.

And each SENTOU has two big rooms that separate men and women.
Traditionally these bath houses have been quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others.　(Sentou's Layout: Borrowed from Wikipedia)

And you can see the inside of SENTOU on this web page.

People are required to wash themselves first, and then they can bathe in a big bathtub to relax and sometimes communicate with other bathers.

Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skin-ship(=Physical contact) in Japanese.

What is Otoshidama?

"お年玉(otoshidama)" is a Japanese custom in which adults give children money over the New Year's holiday.

At the New Year, Japanese kids have been enjoying looking at their purses or bank accounts.
It is because they temporarily become rich at the New Year of every year.

Otoshidama, or gift money, is one of the New Year's traditions of Japan, which makes children all excited right after Christmas is over.

During New Year, they get money from adults, usually their parents, relatives or neighbors.

Otoshidama is given when people visit friends, neighbors, and relatives between January 1-3.

Bills are folded into three sections and put into small envelopes, then handed to the children of close friends and relatives.
* That special small envelopes is called "ポチ袋(pochi-bukuro) or お年玉袋(otoshidama-bukuro)" in Japan.

Children usually receive otoshidama until they finish high school, though it is not uncommon for university students to get money these.

And, it's a wonderful tradition for children;　maybe not so wonderful for adults.

 

What is "Seijinshiki"?

"成人式(Seijinshiki)" is a Japanese annual event.

It is dedicated to the nation's young people who have reached the age of 20.
The second Monday of January, Japanese people attain legal maturity at age 20, and after that, they are eligible to vote.
(The holiday used to be on January 15, but in 2000 it was moved to the second Monday of the month.)

Coming of age day is observed as a national holiday, and municipal governments celebrate coming of age day for 20 year olds on this day.
(In current practice, some of those attending the coming of age ceremony are actually only 19 years old; attendees are those whose 20th birthday falls between April 2 of the previous year and April 1 of the current year.)

Festivities include coming of age ceremonies (seijin-shiki?) held at local and prefectural offices, as well as after-parties amongst family and friends.

As styles of ceremonies are different from region to region, it is common for 20-year-olds dressed in formal outfits including many women in gorgeous kimono called "furisode" to attend it.
(Japanese women wear "Kimono" on such special occasions as social events, ceremonies, and traditional events.)

What is SAISEN?

賽銭(saisen) is a type of offering to Japanese god(shinto), originally given on the occasion of a visit of gratitude for the fulfillment of a prayer.

We(Japanese people) offer money to the gods as a token of our joy and gratitude for the realization of our wishes or to express our faith and respect.

By offering money we express our respect to the gods with no expectations.

This kind of money is called "賽銭(Saisen)" or "お賽銭(Osaisen)" in Japan.

Saisen has the meaning of a monetary gift of prayer or reverence at temples and shrines.

With the development of a monetary economy, we came to scatter money though in the old religious festival, we scattered grains of rice on the ground.

Many of Saisen is thrown in in "賽銭箱;Saisen Bako(Shinto coin box)" put in front of the Shinto shrine and the buddhist temple in Japan.

And worshipers at a shrine may ring a bell before depositing their coins and praying.

Saisen is typically offered by individuals on the occasion of irregular visits for the purpose of making personal entreaties to the Japanese god.